Steiner's Records Is Now Clear

Slot-machine advocate and former county executive candidate William J. Steiner hit all cherries last month when he left the last of his criminal troubles behind in Annapolis District Court.

Steiner, a Glen Burnie bar owner who touted legalized gambling as the answer to the county's fiscal problems last year, was given probation before judgment Feb. 26, expunging his conviction last August on two counts of receiving stolen goods.

On Jan. 14, in a trial on charges stemming from an incident in his bar, McDoogal's, he was found not guilty of battery and a related charge of assault and harassment.

As a wild-card Republican candidate, Steiner advocated a slot machine for every pub as a way to tap a constant flow of quarters into Anne Arundel's economy and the county's bank account.

He lost the primary by an 8-to-1 margin to the GOP's anointed favorite son Robert R. Neall, who won the county executive seat.

Sentencing on either set of charges would have disqualified Steiner from serving office. But the cleansing of his criminal record leaves him free to run again if he decides that the county needs his service.

"As bad as everybody cut me up, I enjoyed it," Steinersaid Friday. "If I knew I had backing and support for slot machines,I just might run again."